SELECT Languages for Research Purposes

Although some 40 languages are regularly taught at the University of Toronto, there remains a need among graduate students for a wide range of languages not usually available (for example, Khmer, Maori, Indonesian, U'wa, Yakut). The Study Elsewhere of Less Commonly Taught (SELECT) Languages for Research Purposes fund enables graduate students needing, for the purposes of their research, a good working knowledge of a language not regularly taught at U of T to study that language at another institution. The funds are awarded to individual graduate students through a competitive process overseen by the Dean’s Advisory Committee on Languages.

Application Details

Students are invited to submit applications for financial support from this fund by January 19, 2018 (please note there is only one round of applications this year). Applications should be sent via the graduate associate chair/coordinator of the applicant's graduate unit. Students should check with their unit for internal deadlines and application processes. Students should also consult with the Safety Abroad website to assess any additional preparation that may be needed for language study in their proposed location.

Graduate associate chairs/coordinators should submit all applications from their unit, together with a cover letter that briefly justifies the need for each student to study the language at another institution. The cover letter should provide a ranking of applicant in cases where more than one student is applying from the unit.

Proposal Requirements:

Please submit a proposal using the application form, taking into consideration the following criteria:

Language to be studied is not taught at the University of Toronto. (Funding will not be provided for languages that are offered at U of T, but not offered at a particular time, e.g. summer.)

Student has not received support from this fund more than once.

Demonstrated need for study of the language and importance of language knowledge for the dissertation research.

Timeliness of language study to the student's research program.

Suitability of the venue and the language instruction for the development of the language skills.

Applicants must be current Arts and Science graduate students in good standing. Please provide a recent transcript with your application.

Priority will be given to students at the Ph.D. level. Students at the Master level may be considered if they can show that they will be enrolled in a Ph.D. program at the University of Toronto.

Priority will be given to students applying to this fund for the first time and to students in the early stages of their doctorate research.

Application Submission Process

Students should submit their proposals to their graduate associate chair/coordinator for approval. We ask that graduate associate chairs/coordinators submit all proposals from their unit together, with a cover letter briefly justifying the need of each student to undertake this study opportunity at another institution. In cases where more than one student is applying from a unit, please provide a ranking of proposals.

A completed form with the accompanying cover letter forwarded from the graduate associate chair/coordinator will be considered approved by your department or program. Eligible proposals should be sent via email to fas.international@utoronto.ca no later than January 19, 2018.